Cloud Lab

Earlier in the year, I worked on some resources for a project led by Felicity Aston, called 'Pole of Cold'. Search the blog top left for the full story, and/or visit the website to see the resources that I wrote.

If you're a member of the Royal Geographical Society, you can now log in to the members' area of the website and relive, or catch up with Felicity's excellent lecture that I was able to attend in person.
Felicity's latest project to reach the TV is Cloud Lab. This involved a range of experiments on clouds, carried out from a dirigible.
It was filmed a while back, and the twitter feed here tells the story.
Details on the programme are here - it looks to be really interesting.
BBC2 16th July at 8pm
As a member of the Cloud Appreciation Society, I'll be interested to see what it involves.

Details here from the BBC site above:
A team of scientists is taking to the skies in the world’s largest airship, the Skyship 600, for one of television's most ambitious experiments on the atmosphere.
Flying from coast to coast, across the USA, in a month-long expedition for the BBC Two series Operation Cloud Lab: Secrets of the Skies, the team of British scientists will scrutinise insect life, the relationship between life and weather, as well as how hurricanes form.

The team, which includes an entomologist, meteorologist and professional explorer, is also hoping to shed light on the creation of clouds and the relationship between diverse ecosystems and weather.

The airship is a unique platform for exploring the atmosphere. It can maintain a stationary position, so the team is able to watch weather phenomena develop, and then manoeuvre to get the best vantage point. It flies slowly and is exceptionally stable, making it the ideal base from which to conduct scientific experiments.

Series producer James Van Der Pool, explains: "The 100 kilometres or so of air above our heads is all that separates us from space. It’s in every breath we take and makes Earth habitable. Yet for all its centrality to the health of the planet there’s a lot we still don’t know about the atmosphere. For instance, at what altitude does life cease? What type of air is most likely to cause rain? With Cloud Lab we have a rare and exciting opportunity to address some of these questions head on." 

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